Rob Weber's Memorial Fund
Donation protected
So where do I begin, where do I start to tell some of the amusing, touching, sometimes hilarious, and too often unbelievable stories about Rob Weber. After all, my friendship with Rob goes back more than 45 years . He was my best friend, and I his best man. Well, why don't I just start at the beginning, back around 1971 when I was in 8th grade and Rob in 7th and we were teammates on the Balboa Bay club swim team. Now for those of you who have only come to know Rob in his recent adult years, back then you could actually use the name Rob Weber and the adjective "skinny" all in the same sentence. And even though he was just a gawky , rail thin kid back then, two things I learned and admired about him: he was a good , hard working swimmer and he was, how shall I say this politely... he was witty, he was clever. Oh heck, let's call a spade a spade: he was a real smart ass! And all of you who knew him well, knew that was his style, his sense of humor. And that cutting and clever humor persisted and entertained me for all my life.
So we persevered with our swimming and ended up going to high school together. Again we persevered , Rob put in the hard work (and also honed his skills as a smart ass), and together we won a CIF water polo championship in 1974. Now even though we won the game, just prior to the end of that game I was standing on the pool deck next to Rob because I had been kicked out of the game and Rob, well Rob was keeping the bench nice and warm; and when the final buzzer went off and it was obvious we won the CIF championship I jumped in the air ...i jumped as high as I could and landed in Rob's arms, hugging him; that moment became one of my fondest memories of that night. I distinctly remember celebrating that moment with him and screaming with him , "We won ! We won!" Great moment, beautiful memories.
But you know what? Rob was also very smart; again, for some of you who have only recently become acquainted with Rob, yes, you will be shocked and surprised to know that he was a very smart man. How do I know? Well, right about SAT time in high school he made sure you knew he had a perfect score of 800 on the math section of the SAT test. Now I don't remember him talking much about the English section of the exam but Rob Buddy, I do remember you had a perfect score on the math section. He was an idiot savant when it came to numbers (in my opinion he was more idiot than savant). You could tell Rob your birthday and he could tell you what day of the week your birthday would fall on in any year in the future. Remarkable! He was by far the least nerdy math major I ever met at Stanford.
Surprise surprise, both of us end up going to Stanford after HS, but with me playing polo and Rob being on the swim team, we were on different schedules. I only saw him on campus occasionally, usually on the steps at the pool, me coming and him going , or me going and him coming to the pool deck. But you know what I DO remember about Rob at that time, and some people today may not know this: he was a world class swimmer, one of the best in the country. He was really good!
That is true, and he was very proud of that fact. I think sometime around his sophomore or junior year he had the fastest time in the country for the 200 m breaststroke, his specialty . It was a proud moment in his life ... and of course he reminded me many, many times over the years that he was, at one time, a great swimmer. And though later in life he became more of a decent floater or good bobber in the pool, I would like to remind everyone today that in his heyday he was a very, very good nationally ranked swimmer.
Fast forward a few years, we had both taken off in our careers and eventually we circled back to Irvine. I think what I will miss most about Rob are those fun and special days in the fall when we would get together to watch our beloved Stanford football team. Sometimes Rob and I would go to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch a game, usually the only Stanford guys at the restaurant, which I guess made us the two smartest guys in the room. Or if we watched the game at his house, he would text me and ask for the #8 special at Subway, with Avocado, no mustard. And although we loved to see our team win, we equally enjoyed seeing our nemesis, USC , lose. The so smart and witty USC everyone knows are the classics: USC-University of Spoiled Children , or USC -University of Second Choice . but it was Rob, at his witty and smart-ass best, that took the USC teasing to a new level. I swear he came up with all these new meanings for USC. After Pete Carol jumped ship when his teams got caught breaking the rules, it was Rob who stated: USC -University of Sanctioned Cheaters. And more recently, as Stanford continued to beat SC year after year, it was Rob who coined the term: USC -University of Stanford's Chumps. And my favorite, an all-time classic, during the Sarkissian coaching debacle , it was Rob who declared, "USC is now the University of Schnockered Coaches.
Rob, I'm gonna miss you buddy, you and your smart ass humor...not just on game days but every day for the rest of my life.
The funds that are donated will go directly to Rob's wife, Lisa, to help her through this very unexpected transition.
However, if you would prefer to donate to a charity on Rob's behalf, please know that Rob and Lisa support a child named Evans in Kenya through Unbound which supports poor children and elders. Or if you prefer, you could also make a donation to Obria which supports women in crisis pregancies.
Thank you for your support!
Jack Lorenz
BTW, I am unfortunately out of town and uable to attend the service and since I'm not on facebook or have computer access on my trip, I would appreciate your help in getting the word out about this page. Thanks!
So we persevered with our swimming and ended up going to high school together. Again we persevered , Rob put in the hard work (and also honed his skills as a smart ass), and together we won a CIF water polo championship in 1974. Now even though we won the game, just prior to the end of that game I was standing on the pool deck next to Rob because I had been kicked out of the game and Rob, well Rob was keeping the bench nice and warm; and when the final buzzer went off and it was obvious we won the CIF championship I jumped in the air ...i jumped as high as I could and landed in Rob's arms, hugging him; that moment became one of my fondest memories of that night. I distinctly remember celebrating that moment with him and screaming with him , "We won ! We won!" Great moment, beautiful memories.
But you know what? Rob was also very smart; again, for some of you who have only recently become acquainted with Rob, yes, you will be shocked and surprised to know that he was a very smart man. How do I know? Well, right about SAT time in high school he made sure you knew he had a perfect score of 800 on the math section of the SAT test. Now I don't remember him talking much about the English section of the exam but Rob Buddy, I do remember you had a perfect score on the math section. He was an idiot savant when it came to numbers (in my opinion he was more idiot than savant). You could tell Rob your birthday and he could tell you what day of the week your birthday would fall on in any year in the future. Remarkable! He was by far the least nerdy math major I ever met at Stanford.
Surprise surprise, both of us end up going to Stanford after HS, but with me playing polo and Rob being on the swim team, we were on different schedules. I only saw him on campus occasionally, usually on the steps at the pool, me coming and him going , or me going and him coming to the pool deck. But you know what I DO remember about Rob at that time, and some people today may not know this: he was a world class swimmer, one of the best in the country. He was really good!
That is true, and he was very proud of that fact. I think sometime around his sophomore or junior year he had the fastest time in the country for the 200 m breaststroke, his specialty . It was a proud moment in his life ... and of course he reminded me many, many times over the years that he was, at one time, a great swimmer. And though later in life he became more of a decent floater or good bobber in the pool, I would like to remind everyone today that in his heyday he was a very, very good nationally ranked swimmer.
Fast forward a few years, we had both taken off in our careers and eventually we circled back to Irvine. I think what I will miss most about Rob are those fun and special days in the fall when we would get together to watch our beloved Stanford football team. Sometimes Rob and I would go to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch a game, usually the only Stanford guys at the restaurant, which I guess made us the two smartest guys in the room. Or if we watched the game at his house, he would text me and ask for the #8 special at Subway, with Avocado, no mustard. And although we loved to see our team win, we equally enjoyed seeing our nemesis, USC , lose. The so smart and witty USC everyone knows are the classics: USC-University of Spoiled Children , or USC -University of Second Choice . but it was Rob, at his witty and smart-ass best, that took the USC teasing to a new level. I swear he came up with all these new meanings for USC. After Pete Carol jumped ship when his teams got caught breaking the rules, it was Rob who stated: USC -University of Sanctioned Cheaters. And more recently, as Stanford continued to beat SC year after year, it was Rob who coined the term: USC -University of Stanford's Chumps. And my favorite, an all-time classic, during the Sarkissian coaching debacle , it was Rob who declared, "USC is now the University of Schnockered Coaches.
Rob, I'm gonna miss you buddy, you and your smart ass humor...not just on game days but every day for the rest of my life.
The funds that are donated will go directly to Rob's wife, Lisa, to help her through this very unexpected transition.
However, if you would prefer to donate to a charity on Rob's behalf, please know that Rob and Lisa support a child named Evans in Kenya through Unbound which supports poor children and elders. Or if you prefer, you could also make a donation to Obria which supports women in crisis pregancies.
Thank you for your support!
Jack Lorenz
BTW, I am unfortunately out of town and uable to attend the service and since I'm not on facebook or have computer access on my trip, I would appreciate your help in getting the word out about this page. Thanks!
Organizer and beneficiary
Ellen Lorenz
Organizer
Irvine, CA
Lisa Weber
Beneficiary